Thread: Are 90s babies true Gen Yers?
  • donnie darko
    • 6 years 7 months ago
    • Posts: 41
    		 I've heard some people say if you were born later than 1989, you belong to Gen Z/the Google Generation.

    Personally I think that's bunk. I was born in 1990 and while I can only remember a little bit before the "Internet Age" started in 1995, the same could really be said for anyone born after 1985 or so. If you class "childhood" as being ages 3-12 then the vast majority of mine was in the 90s. The real divide between a "digital native" and an "adapter" I'd say would be if the Internet wasn't mainstream until you were say, in high school.

    The Internet wasn't a big part of my childhood until I was 10. Even then, access to it was limited by whenever my parents needed to make a phone call, so I still mostly relied on TV well into the 2000s for my information and entertainment. I wouldn't say the Web "ruled my life" until maybe '04-'05, which was when I really started getting into forums and got my own high speed connection.

    I didn't have a cell phone until I was 19, social networking wasn't popular until my high school years, I had a CD walkman and recorded things off the radio with cassette tapes. I played with Hot Wheels, Yak Baks, tamagotchics and walkie talkies - not iphone apps.

    And I grew up during the Disney Renaissance. We went many years without having cable. I remember back in 1996/97 being so excited when we got it. We even had a crappy old TV where you actually had to turn a dial to change the channel.

    I think people born in the early 90s are pretty old school by today's standards. Especially compared to the middle school kids now born in the late 90s/early 00s. What do you think? I'd even say that if you were before 2000, you should probably count as a millenial. I'd say Gen Y extends from about 1979 to 1999.
  • stake n sheak
    avatar
    • 6 years 7 months ago
    • Posts: 1982
    		 Would you say you're "bitter" or "insecure" that you don't count as Generation Y?
    Quote by tangspot2
    Mrs. stake you say some nasty on my threads. Dirty bitch
  • Ghost of Vapor
    avatar
    • 6 years 7 months ago
    • Posts: 474
    		 I'm insecure about my bitterness.
    signature
  • donnie darko
    • 6 years 7 months ago
    • Posts: 41
    Quote by stake
    Would you say you're "bitter" or "insecure" that you don't count as Generation Y?


    Well I know for a fact I count as Gen Y (the echo boom peaked in 1990 so there's no question) but sometimes I feel like us 1990ers get the short end of the stick. If I was born in um, 1996 or something at least I could embrace the Gen Zer I'd be and I could feel good bragging to the 2000s babies that I was alive in the 90s.

    As a 1990er though, I know that the 90s wasn't that great. Some people wanna lump us very-early 90s born in with the 15 year olds just because we happen to be born in a 199x year, but I feel much closer to people born in the 80s.
  • stake n sheak
    avatar
    • 6 years 7 months ago
    • Posts: 1982
    		 Who are these people "lumping you in"?

    The fact that things are classified "Generation Y" "Generation Z" just demonstrates there is no distinct identity applied to these periods. There's nothing unifying there. Which is required. That's WHY there are terms like "Baby Boomers", "Generation X", and "Millenials". People who who study society noted overwhelming trends among a certain age. There isn't anything that's notably strong among the people who fall outside of that or within subsets of that. They simply piggyback to Generation X and like most sequels don't live up to the original.

    Every important author or authority organization who has anything to say about it puts "millenial generation" as those born between latter 70s-1983 and 2000-2004. [The very existence of a lack of complete consensus on even this broad point should illustrate the futility of your question, but] why try to force stratification beyond that? You're trying to get cred? Because you don't like 15 year olds? Too bad. A generation is twenty or thirty years and whining won't change it. If you don't like the kids, don't worry about it. You think everybody who was young in the 50s was a beatnik, everybody who was young in the 70s was a hippie?
    Quote by tangspot2
    Mrs. stake you say some nasty on my threads. Dirty bitch
  • retroman
    • 6 years 7 months ago
    • Posts: 702
    Quote by donnie
    I've heard some people say if you were born later than 1989, you belong to Gen Z/the Google Generation.

    Personally I think that's bunk. I was born in 1990 and while I can only remember a little bit before the "Internet Age" started in 1995, the same could really be said for anyone born after 1985 or so. If you class "childhood" as being ages 3-12 then the vast majority of mine was in the 90s. The real divide between a "digital native" and an "adapter" I'd say would be if the Internet wasn't mainstream until you were say, in high school.

    The Internet wasn't a big part of my childhood until I was 10. Even then, access to it was limited by whenever my parents needed to make a phone call, so I still mostly relied on TV well into the 2000s for my information and entertainment. I wouldn't say the Web "ruled my life" until maybe '04-'05, which was when I really started getting into forums and got my own high speed connection.

    I didn't have a cell phone until I was 19, social networking wasn't popular until my high school years, I had a CD walkman and recorded things off the radio with cassette tapes. I played with Hot Wheels, Yak Baks, tamagotchics and walkie talkies - not iphone apps.

    And I grew up during the Disney Renaissance. We went many years without having cable. I remember back in 1996/97 being so excited when we got it. We even had a crappy old TV where you actually had to turn a dial to change the channel.

    I think people born in the early 90s are pretty old school by today's standards. Especially compared to the middle school kids now born in the late 90s/early 00s. What do you think? I'd even say that if you were before 2000, you should probably count as a millenial. I'd say Gen Y extends from about 1979 to 1999.


    I'm proud to be a 90's baby
    Hoping to explore pop culture from the 20th Century with you
  • bassman21
    avatar
    • 6 years 7 months ago
    • Posts: 4631
    		 That's right Shake. Not every teen in the 60s/70s was a "hippie". Not every teen in the 80s wore leg warmers or dressed like a "punk". Not every teen in the 90s wore Doc Martins and flannel shirts.

    In actuality each generation had several styles, trends and ways of thinking. The same hold true today. There are asshole and nice people with every generation as well. What tends to happen is unique attributes of a generation tend to sick out more than the ones that stayed the same from the previous. The next generation will stick out in their own way and those groups will probably go against what the previous did.
  • retroman
    • 6 years 7 months ago
    • Posts: 702
    Quote by bassman21
    That's right Shake. Not every teen in the 60s/70s was a "hippie". Not every teen in the 80s wore leg warmers or dressed like a "punk". Not every teen in the 90s wore Doc Martins and flannel shirts.

    In actuality each generation had several styles, trends and ways of thinking. The same hold true today. There are asshole and nice people with every generation as well. What tends to happen is unique attributes of a generation tend to sick out more than the ones that stayed the same from the previous. The next generation will stick out in their own way and those groups will probably go against what the previous did.


    Could not agree more no matter what we go through in the future we should be proud of the decade we were born in and the effect it has on society and future generations
    Hoping to explore pop culture from the 20th Century with you
  • RainKeepsRaining
    • 3 days 2 hours ago
    • Posts: 7
    		 Good question.

    I would say that early 90s babies (1990-91/92) definitely are. Most sources would suggest that mid-90s babies who were born in the first half of the decade (1992/93-94) are likewise Generation Y. But I don't know about those born in 1995 or beyond.

    One key difference between Generation Y and Generation Z is that Generation Z prefers the "new world". Generation Y is compatible with the "new world" too, but they were old enough to appreciate the "old world" before the new world took full control of society. Old world features include outdated architecture, belief in a diety, analogue technology. New world features include modern architecture, atheism and digital technology.

    Someone born in 1995 or later was six at the oldest when 9/11 happened. The Great Recession began at the turn of 2007/2008 and they were not teenagers yet. Generation Z were simply too young to have participated in many key events of the 00s decade because by they were turning thirteen in 2009 at the earliest.

    Maybe a good question for Americans born in the 90s is how many international events can they remember?

    Here are two events with the urls to their Wikipedia pages that are less spoken of than 9/11 but still big events of the 00s from a worldwide viewpoint.

    * Boxing Day Tsunami https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquake_and_tsunami
    * 7/7 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7_July_2005_London_bombings

    Somebody born in 1994 or before would have made it to double digits at the mid-way point of the decade. A person born in 1995 or after would not be.

    To be Generation Y, I believe that being at least age five/six on December 31, 1999/2000 is important.

    As for those born in the 1980s (especially mid-late 80s), they are are core of Generation Y. But everyone born in the first half of the 1990s counts as Generation Y.
  • whttypodcast
    • 2 days 4 hours ago
    • Posts: 4
    		 Per thoughtco.com:

    2000 to present: New Silent Generation or Generation Z.
    1980 to 2000: Millennials or Generation Y.
    1965 to 1979: Thirteeners or Generation X.
    1946 to 1964: Baby Boomers.
    1925 to 1945: Silent Generation.
    1900 to 1924: G.I. Generation.

    Mel and I are technically Millenials, which we know that title often comes with a lot of flack. However, that doesn't stop us from loving what we love, from old toys, games, music, movies from before our time and during our time.

    There's too much emphasis on this. The time when you were born can tell a lot about what the music, tech, and movies were like as you were growing up, but you determine who you are as a person.
    - Mel & Nic from We're Here To Tell You podcast | Spotify, Stitcher, iTunes | Find us on Insta, FB, and Twitter @whttypodcast
  • RainKeepsRaining
    • 2 days 39 minutes ago
    • Posts: 7
    Quote by whttypodcast


    There's too much emphasis on this. The time when you were born can tell a lot about what the music, tech, and movies were like as you were growing up, but you determine who you are as a person.


    This is a limitation with generation definitions. Musicians can have hits in more than one decade. Televisions air episodes on repeat. Wealthy people can enjoy more technology than others.
  • retrofan01
    • 4 hours 38 minutes ago
    • Posts: 1
    		 I saw this online somewhere:

    1977-1986: Gen XYers/Xennials
    1987-1995: Gen Yers/Millennials
    1996-2008: Gen Zers
  • RainKeepsRaining
    • 3 hours 17 minutes ago
    • Posts: 7
    Quote by retrofan01
    I saw this online somewhere:

    1977-1986: Gen XYers/Xennials
    1987-1995: Gen Yers/Millennials
    1996-2008: Gen Zers


    I may look like I am contradicting myself by analyzing this after my last post, but I'll give it a go anyways.

    1977-1986 as a kind of "cusp" generation between X and Y? Interesting thought because sometimes the 2nd half of the baby boomers are called "Generation Jones".

    To look for a common similarity with the 1977-1986 group, how about music videos? It is hard to me to say when music videos became a concrete normal but possibly around 1984-85, following the success of Michael Jackson's Thriller. Everyone from 1977-1986 turned 7 at the oldest in 1984 making them young enough to have grown up in a time when music videos were normal. But if you want to turn 8 before 1991 (the year that Nirvana changed the music scene) you can't be born any later than 1982.

    Grouping those born in 1987 with those born in 1995 is interesting because 1995 has been labelled generation Z by my most trusted source. You would need to be born in 1992 at the latest to turn 8 before 2001 (the year 9/11 happened). Ignoring 9/11 though, I wouldn't say that the millenium culture had died any earlier than 2003. In my opinion, if you turned 8 in 2002, you were old enough to experience millenium culture. You would need to be born in 1992/93 at the latest to enjoy a good experience of millenium culture because I suspect that the best of millenium culture would've been finished by the time 9/11 happened.

    Based on this:

    1977-1982: Strong Generation MTV
    1983-1986: Weak Generation MTV
    1987-1992: Strong Generation Alternative
    1993-1994: Weak Generation Alternative

    As for Generation Z ending in 2008, they turned 8 in 2016. You could say that everyone born in 2008 or earlier turned 8 before Trump became president. But it may be too early to judge the impact of turning 8 after Obama. I believe that "Modern Animation" (I think it might be known as CGI) had become normal by about 2004, even though Toy Story was supposed to have been made with "Modern Animation", released back in 1995). Social media had definitely had an impact by the time 2010 had ended (about 2006 is when I estimate that the internet culture had really taken over, but I could be a couple of years out) and I would say that the older ways of doing things were already being replaced by many people before the beginning of 2007.

    For now:

    1995-1997/98: Weak Generation Internet
    1998/99-2008: Strong Generation Internet
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